IPL 2020: Ranking the teams based on their bench strength

With exactly two months left for IPL 2020 to kickstart, the buzz around the cricket extravaganza has begun. Enthusiasts in the metros and buses can be overheard chatting about their favourite team and their probable starting XIs. Everyone has their own opinion and predictions as to which team will lift the trophy this time around.

The 2020 IPL Auction was full of drama and many new additions were made to most of the teams barring Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who decided to retain the core of the team. CSK and SRH also made a few good additions to bolster their squad. All 8 teams look set for the upcoming edition with a good mix of experienced and young players.

Each team also looks at an ideal starting XI for all the matches. However, it is virtually impossible to play the same XI of players throughout the season. Various factors - such as availability of the players, injuries, form, and pitch that the specific match is being played on - influence the starting XI of each match. IPL teams are known to shuffle their starting XI frequently and this means that most of the players get a chance to play at some point or the other.

A good bench strength is extremely important for each franchise in order to gain success in a tournament the magnitude of the IPL.

In this article, we will be ranking the bench strength of all 8 teams.

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#8 Rajasthan Royals

Steve Smith will aim to lead RR to their 2nd IPL title

Predicted Starting XI: Robin Uthappa, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson, Steve Smith (c), Riyan Parag, Ben Stokes, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Ankit Rajpoot

The Rajasthan Royals do not boast of a spectacular bench strength but there are still a few capable backup options in their ranks. Any issues with the starting XI may spell trouble for the franchise.

The backup batsmen for the Royals are Manan Vohra, David Miller, Anuj Rawat, and the young Yashasvi Jaiswal. 26-year-old Vohra, who was retained by the Royals for ₹20 lakh, has been in great batting form for Chandigarh and scored 3 centuries and a 90 in six Ranji Trophy matches. The opener, who has plenty of experience in the domestic league, did not get any opportunity in IPL 2019 but can serve as a good backup option in place of Uthappa.

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30-year-old David Miller has not reached his peak form for quite some time now. His recent run at the Big Bash League was disastrous. The Hobart Hurricanes batsman could only amass 198 runs in 14 matches at a poor average of 22.00. 90 of these runs came in a single match.

Uncapped Anuj Rawat was also roped in by the Royals for ₹80 lakh. The 20-year-old WK-batsman might not get a break in this season but IPL 2020 will be a good learning experience for him. Yashasvi Jaiswal is a technically solid batsman. The 18-year-old played a few brilliant knocks and helped India U-19 reach the ICC Under 19 World Cup 2020 semifinal. He will be raring to impress critics in the limited opportunities he gets in IPL 2020.

RR has backup options in the form of Mahipal Lomror, Shashank Singh, and Rahul Tewatia in the All-Rounders department. The southpaw Lomror has oodles of talent and is a batting all-rounder. Shashank Singh is a clean striker and can also come in handy with his offbreaks. Rahul Tewatia has played 20 IPL matches in which he has made 14 scalps and scored 111 runs. To be fair, the all-rounders department of the Royals is not so convincing.

Aniruddha Joshi will be the backup spinner in the RR squad for IPL 2020. The 32-year-old is known to pack a punch with the bat as well and can be an explosive lower-order batsman.

Oshane Thomas, Tom Curran, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Akash Singh, and Varun Aaron will likely be the backup speedsters in the squad. Tye and Thomas are the most experienced of the lot and will be their best replacements for Archer in case he is unavailable. Meanwhile, Tyagi and Aaron will form good backup options for Unadkat and Rajpoot.

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Predicted Starting XI: Parthiv Patel (wk), Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav

RCB has quite a few reserve batsmen in their squad but most of them are inexperienced at the top level. Young Devdutt Padikkal is a top-order batsman and has given some magnificent performances for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy recently. Joshua Philippe is the alternative wicket-keeper in the squad. Shahbaz Ahmad, who also has the ability to bowl spin, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, and Pavan Deshpande are the other batting reserves available with RCB.

Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, and Chris Morris, who was roped in for a mind-boggling ₹ 10 crore are the three all-rounders who will likely be in RCB's starting XI. Sri Lanka's Isuru Udana will be the back-up all-rounder in the team.

Pawan Negi will be the reserve player in the spin department. The left-arm orthodox spinner is a T20 specialist and has clinched 34 wickets in the 50 IPL matches he has played. Negi also packs a punch with the bat and can chip in with a few handy runs if required.

In case Dale Steyn is fully fit, he will likely be in the starting XI in place of Chris Morris. However, as of now, we have kept him in the reserves in the pace bowlers department of RCB. Mohammed Siraj will be the domestic reserve and can play in place of Umesh Yadav or Navdeep Saini if required. Meanwhile, Aussie speedster Kane Richardson provides RCB with another potent option in the bowling line-up.

#6 Kings XI Punjab

Chris Gayle

Predicted Starting XI: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Krishnappa Gowtham, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel

Kings XI Punjab have plenty of talented batsmen in their ranks. KL Rahul is in excellent batting form and has also done well behind the stumps for the national team. There is a possibility that he will guard the stumps in the IPL as well which makes Pooran tentative in the team. For now, we have included Pooran in our predicted starting XI.

Karun Nair was retained for ₹5.6 crores and has played 69 IPL matches overall. He provides an excellent domestic option. Mandeep Singh, highly-rated Prabhsimran Singh, and pocket dynamite Sarfaraz Khan will be the other batting reserves in the team.

Gowtham was transferred to KXIP from Rajasthan Royals for a whopping ₹6.2 crore. He will likely get a place in the starting XI which means that a capable all-rounder such as James Neesham will provide a back-up option. Darshan Nalkande will be the domestic reserve in the all-rounders' department.

There are quite a few talented reserves for Murugan Ashwin in the spin department. Young Afghani sensation Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, recently roped in Jagdeesha Suchith, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, and Tajinder Dhillon will form the backup options. Mujeeb and Bishnoi are set to be the first backup options and KXIP might also play two specialist spinners on particular pitches such as the Chepauk.

KXIP roped in England's Chris Jordan for ₹ 3 crore to bolster their pace department. The Windies player has plenty of experience playing at the International level as well. South Africa's Hardus Viljoen and India's Arshdeep Singh will be the other two speedsters whose services will be at the disposal of KXIP if need be.

#5 Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH

Predicted Starting XI: Jonny Bairstow (wk), David Warner, Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Siddharth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed

SRH have excellent backup batsmen in the form of Wriddhiman Saha and Shreevats Goswami. Both these domestic batsmen are wicketkeepers as well and will be back up for Bairstow. Priyam Garg is a highly rated batsman and the current skipper of India Under 19s. Sanjay Yadav will be another batting reserve in the squad.

The Hyderabad-based franchise boast of exceptional reserves in the all-rounders' department as well. Mohammad Nabi proved his worth in the previous season as a brilliant Bowling Allrounder. 28-year-old Mitchell Marsh has also been roped in this season and can be a more than handy foreign reserve. Bavanaka Sandeep, Abdul Samad, and Fabian Allen will be the three other backup all-rounders in the team.

There is only one backup in the spin department which is a little concerning. Slow left-arm orthodox bowler Shahbaz Nadeem will act as the backup spinner for Rashid Khan. The Muzzafarpur-born player is a talented bowler and has made 42 scalps in 64 IPL matches. Nadeem is a reliable spinner to have in the squad.

Sandeep Sharma, Thangarasu Natarajan, and Basil Thampi are the Indian reserves in the fast-bowling department. Sharma is the most experienced of the lot and also made 12 scalps in 11 matches last season. He will likely get a place in the first team in place of Kaul or Khaleel Ahmed considering their form. Australia's Billy Stanlake was also retained by SRH for ₹50 lakh and will be the foreign speedster in the squad.

#4 Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals are also in search of their maiden IPL title.

Predicted Starting XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada

There is no dearth of Indian batsmen with Delhi Capitals. Shikhar Dhawan adds his experience at the top while Shaw, Iyer, and Pant are budding youngsters with immense talent.

With Rahane being roped in for ₹5.25 crore from Rajasthan Royals, Prithvi Shaw might be added to the reserves in the side. Australia's Alex Carey is another great batting option for Delhi. The southpaw has a good amount of experience playing limited-overs cricket for the national team. Jason Roy is another hard-hitting batsman. The English player has a total of 5000 runs in 199 T20s at an impressive strike rate of 145.64.

Axar Patel, Keemo Paul, Lalit Yadav, and Harshal Patel are the spare all-rounders in the team. Patel is a tried and tested player in the IPL. He played 14 matches for the Delhi-based franchise last season and clinched 10 wickets at an economy rate of 7.45. Keemo also has the ability to hit the ball lower down the order and can be a useful fast-medium bowler. Harshal and Lalit provide a couple of more options to the already strong all-rounders' department.

Sandeep Lamichhane is a spin wizard from Nepal. The 19-year-old is a wicket-taking bowler and can be played in place of Amit Mishra on certain wickets. There are no other backup spin options with the Capitals which can hamper their chances in case any of the three spinners are not available.

Kagiso Rabada was lethal for the Capitals last season as he picked up 25 wickets in just 12 matches. The Protean and Ishant Sharma are sure to secure their place in the starting XI. This leaves us with the Mohit Sharma, Avesh Khan, and Tushar Deshpande as the reserve fast bowlers in the side.

#3 Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR

Predicted Starting XI: Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan Dinesh Karthik (c and wk), Rahul Tripathi, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna

Two-time IPL Champions KKR boasts of one of the best starting line-ups for the coming season. They have great depth in their batting and have bolstered their bowling line-up with the addition of Aussie speedster Pat Cummins.

The reserve batsman for KKR includes Siddhesh Lad, backup wicketkeeper Tom Banton, Nikhil Naik, and Rinku Singh. Lad was transferred to KKR from Mumbai Indians ₹20 lakh and the right-handed batsman boasts of a solid temperament. The 27-year-old is not necessarily ideal for the T20 format and has the reputation of a defensive player. Hence, his services might not be required by KKR for the upcoming edition unless there is a crisis.

Tom Banton was roped in by KKR for his base price of ₹1 crores. The youngster is an opening batsman and can be a handy option in case Sunil Narine misfires. The English player played some scintillating knocks for Brisbane Heat in the recent Big Bash League and boasts of a phenomenal strike rate of 160.22 in the 27 T20s he has played.

Banton has also featured in 3 T20Is and is a specialist in the format. Nikhil Naik is most famous for smashing five sixes in an over during a match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Right-handed batsman is yet to be tested at the big stage of the IPL. Rinku Singh will be the fourth backup option in the batting department.

Chris Green is the only backup option in the all-rounders' department. Narine, Rana, and Russell will all feature in the playing XI. Green is a capable off-break bowler and has been an instrumental part of the Sydney Thunder in BBL since the 2014/15 season. The Durban-born player boasts of an impressive economy rate of 6.77 in the 82 T20s he has played. He is also a handy middle-order batsman.

Pravin Tambe is one of the backup spinners in the squad but his participation in IPL 2020 remains doubtful.

Varun Chakravarthy and Manimaran Siddharth are two other spinning reserves in the team who will be backup options for Kuldeep Yadav. There has been a lot of hype around the Legbreak bowler Varun since the last edition but he is yet to bring out his best in the IPL. Getting a hefty sum of ₹4 crores for IPL 2020, the 28-year-old from Karnataka will be looking to justify his price tag this time around.

KKR has plenty of good backup options in the fast-bowling department. Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who was retained for ₹3.2 crores, and Sandeep Warrier will form the Indian backups. England's Harry Gurney and New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson are also good options as both have oodles of experience in T20s.

#2 Mumbai Indians

MI are the most successful team in the IPL with four titles to their name

Predicted Starting XI: Chris Lynn, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga

Defending champions Mumbai Indians have a lot of depth in their squad and boast of an excellent bench in addition to a formidable starting XI.

The backup WK-batsmen in the squad will be the highly talented Ishan Kishan and Aditya Tare. Kishan was retained by Mumbai for ₹6.2 crore. The southpaw packs a punch with the bat and is regarded as one of the future prospects for the Indian national team. He will be looking to make the most of his opportunities in IPL 2020 in order to get a national call-up ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup later this year. The other reserve batsmen in the team include the dynamic Sherfane Rutherford of West Indies, left-handed batsman Saurabh Tiwary, and Anmolpreet Singh.

The Pandya brothers and Keiron Pollard are likely to find a place in the starting XI. This means that only Prince Balwant Rai and bowling all-rounder Jayant Yadav are the reserve players in the department. Mumbai's bench is a little concerning as far as all-rounders are concerned. Meanwhile, Anukul Roy will act as the backup spinner for Rahul Chahar.

Trent Boult was transferred in from Delhi Capitals for ₹2.2 crore and is a great addition to the team. The highly experienced Kiwi player along with left-arm bowler Mitchell McClenaghan will be two of the foreign reserves in the side and act as replacements for Malinga if required. Mumbai also spent heavily on Nathan Coulter-Nile of Australia and had to shell out ₹ 8 crores to procure his services. Considering the current form, the 32-year-old Nile will be first in line to replace Malinga in the starting XI. Mohsin Khan and Digvijay Deshmukh will be the domestic reserve fast-bowlers in the side.

#1 Chennai Super Kings

Dhoni will be looking to lead CSK to their fourth IPL title

Predicted Starting XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c and wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur

CSK are likely to play two specialist spinners - likely Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir - in their XI as the Chepauk pitch favours spinners. With capable all-rounders such as Curran and Bravo in their ranks, the only specialist speedsters in the playing XI are expected to be Chahar and Shardul Thakur.

Jagadeesan Narayan was retained by CSK for ₹20 lakh and will act as the reserve wk-batsman in the squad. Murali Vijay is another great backup option in the batting department. The Chennai-born player has played over 100 IPL matches and his experience in the domestic league can come in handy for CSK this time around as well. 23-year-old Ruturaj Gaikwad will be another backup batsman for CSK.

CSK have quite a few potent all-rounders in their squad. Jadeja, Curran, and Bravo will likely find a place in the starting XI. Kedar Jadhav is an excellent batting all-rounder for reserve. The right-handed player had a forgettable IPL 2019 as he scored just 162 runs in 14 matches. He will be looking to make amends in whatever opportunities he gets this season.

Mitchell Santner is another capable all-rounder. The Kiwi player impressed in the 4 matches he played for CSK last season and clinched 4 wickets at a great economy rate of 6.71. Monu Singh will be another domestic reserve all-rounder in the team.

Imran Tahir is likely to play a majority of CSK's matches after his stellar performance in IPL 2019 during which he won the Purple cap for his mind-boggling 26 wickets in 17 matches at an economy rate of 6.69 and brilliant strike rate of 14.84.

Chennai would have a fantastic option as Piyush Chawla in their reserves for the spin department. The specialist leg-spinner was roped in for ₹ 6.75 crores and will be the likely replacement for Harbhajan Singh/Tahir in quite a few matches. Karn Sharma and Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore will be the other reserve spinners in the side.

South Africa's Lungisani Ngidi was ruled out of IPL 2019 due to a grade 2 muscle strain. The 23-year-old is a no-nonsense pace bowler who can clock speeds of over 140 kph comfortably. His performance was highly impressive in IPL 2018 and he is likely to come into the playing XI on pace-friendly pitches in IPL 2020.

Josh Hazlewood is another fantastic buy for Chennai and he is known for his immaculate line and length. The New South Wales native adds depth to the bowling department and is another trustworthy option in the team. Meanwhile, KM Asif will act as the backup domestic fast bowler for the Chennai-based franchise.